Issue 4 | September/October 2009

Save the Date! Our Impact Fall University Tour

We will be hosting two
events featuring guest
of honor Steve Kariithi,
Country Director.
Page 2
In just 3 months, student
scores in our schools have
doubled! See our impact
and read on for results.
Page 3
Dignitas Project will be
speaking at Harvard,
Tufts, and Columbia in
late October.
Page 5

Collaboration with schools

begins to bear great fruit.
Executive Director Tiffany Cheng reflects on her recent trip
to Kenya, and finds much to celebrate in Dignitas Project’s
efforts to improve education and expand opportunity.

Our role as an organization that empowers individuals and families in a

process to overcome poverty is always at the forefront of our decisions on
the ground. That’s why developing teachers has remained the central focus
of our education improvement efforts. Since January, we’ve partnered with Voices from the
five schools and recruited 22 teachers to be a part of Teachers For Mathare,
a program that aims to build skills, leadership, and capacity in teachers Ground: Steve Kariithi,
working in schools that serve more than 2,000 children. During my time in Country Director
Kenya, I spent time meeting with every teacher to discuss their
achievements and areas we want to improve together. Teacher Benjamin September ushers in the final
Anyanga showed me student marks on recently completed exams and flipped term in the school year in
to a page in his student handbook that showed marks from April. I could
Kenya. From the beginning of
hardly contain my excitement. Scores for some of his students had nearly
doubled in just three months! Smiling with pride, Benjamin said, “The the year, we have been
Teachers For Mathare program has taught me how a teacher is to behave and working closely with five
I am now able to teach very well. What Dignitas is doing is not only schools: training teachers,
benefitting our learners but also the slum as a whole.” equipping classrooms with
In addition to such positive interactions with our teachers, I spent two days textbooks and offering other
working with our principals to discuss promising approaches involving support. We have worked to
families and teachers that help children learn and grow and how they could leverage knowledge, skills
apply these to their school plans. The best part was knowing that our time and other resources from
together was a direct result of principals lobbying our staff for development
workshops, as we had yet to work specifically with (continued on page 2) (continued on page 5)
 SAVE THE DATE and JOIN US!
November 6, 2009 | Los Altos Garden House | 6:30-8:30pm
November 14, 2009 | Oakland Hills Tennis Club | 4:30-6:30pm
-
A fundraiser benefitting Dignitas Project
With guest of honor Steve Kariithi, Kenya Country Director
-
The events will include hors d’oeuvres, wine, live music, silent auction, and short presentation.
-
To RSVP or for event volunteer opportunities, please email info@dignitasproject.org

Hosted by Dignitas Project Board of Directors

Bobby Lee, Tiffany Cheng, Kooper Frame, Matt Geppert, Monica Higgins, Janet Lee Kwon, Wendy Robison,
Tim Sesler, & Helen Westmoreland

(continued from page 1) great deal about the lessons we are learning from
our pilot program and efforts to achieve greater
principals. We will continue working closely with our equity in Mathare. While resources and
partner schools and appreciate the countless hours infrastructure present incredible challenges, the
teachers and principals put in to run schools with greatest need and possibility for wide-scale impact
minimal government support. is in developing
human talent. In
“What Dignitas is doing is not only the coming
months, we’ll be
benefitting our learners but also the evaluating
slum as a whole.” potential
-Benjamin Anyanga, Teacher opportunities to
expand our reach
based on the
My time in Kenya also allowed me to be a part of promising
another important milestone. Dignitas Project now approaches we
has an office of its own in the community! For the have taken.
past 15 months, we have rented a small office from
another community-based organization. We now have The third and
space for our staff of two on the ground, all our office final term of the
equipment, as well as a teacher resource center that school year is
will house a number of maps, books, and other upon us in Kenya
equipment. We are excited that we can give back to and we are Executive Director Tiffany Cheng,
the greater community in this particular way. committed to right, with Mercy Care Centre
making it count. headteacher Lillian Omondi at a
Since returning from Kenya, I have been thinking a student games day in August.
–Tiffany Cheng 2
Issue 4 | September/October 2009
Teachers For Mathare Program Shows Impact on
Student Achievement and Teacher Development
We’ve begun collecting student performance data
from our teachers and are thrilled to see that
double-digits gains in exam scores. On average,
student scores have risen 30 points and 100% of
our students have crossed the important “passing”
threshold of 250 marks.

In schools where 80 children are crammed into the

space of a small dining room and teachers strive to
impart lessons to children struggling against the
effects of poverty, children are learning and
growing. They are enthusiastic about school and
education – singing songs about the importance of
education, engaging in classroom activities with
bounding energy, and full of hope.

For now, hear from our teachers and learn what they
have to say about being a part of Teachers For
Mathare:

“I now know the methods of improving performance

in my class and can counsel children in difficult
“Bravo Dignitas Project. You have changed the lives
circumstances and parents about how to be role
of children and teachers in Mathare.” –Teacher
models in the community.” –Teacher Nancy
Grace Wanjiku, Naioth Education Centre
Wachiye, Mercy Care Education Centre
“The sessions have opened my eyes. As a teacher, it
“We have received a very large number of textbooks
has helped me understand my pupils, my colleagues
and seen a number of teachers able to handle
and prepare my class very well.” –Teacher Francis
greater responsibilities at the school level.” –
Shiro, Valley View Academy
Headteacher, Mercy Care Education Centre
“The training has made me
improve in my classroom as a
teacher and helped me to be
aware of how I can help my
community. Some of my
friends have asked me for the
materials we used even
though they are in teacher
colleges.” –Teacher Susan
Aoko, Valley View Academy

“I have learned how to lesson

plan and use teaching aids –
both have helped strengthen
my interactions with pupils. I
different people and am now
Above: In August, Dignitas Project organized a teacher retreat for the Teachers more confident than before.”
For Mathare program. Teachers and staff all journeyed to Thika’s Fourteen Falls – Teacher Virginia Nyambura,
Park for a day of team-building exercises and recreation away from Mathare. Naioth Education Centre
Above right: Teachers For Mathare member Christine Ondiso with her students at
Naioth Education Center.
3
Issue 4 | September/October 2009
Teacher development sessions shift to classroom-
based instructional coaching
Since January, we have been working with 22 teachers in five
schools. In development sessions, we focused on topics such
as classroom management, education psychology, and lesson
planning. All of these sessions have been conducted outside of
our partner schools in a community space close to our office.

For the final school term, we have enlisted the expertise and
support of Ann Waihura, Dignitas Project’s Instructional Coach.
She has been working diligently with our teachers since April
and developed a wonderful rapport with each one. Starting in
September, Ann will juggle her full-time teaching duties at a
local high school in the neighboring community and her work
with our teachers. Ann will observe every teacher individually
at least twice, providing feedback before and after the class
lesson is conducted. This will help Dignitas Project and our
partner schools create systems within each school to support
ongoing peer-learning opportunities as we would like to see teachers intentionally provide feedback to one another.
Our goal is to continue building skills and developing each teacher but doing so with the recognition that schools
must be supported if they are to adopt such accountability and learning practices.

At the end of November when the school year comes to a close, we expect to present certificates of achievement to
the 22 teachers who have been a part of our year-long pilot program. As much as we are looking forward to this,
we know we still have a great deal of work to accomplish and are grateful that Ann, who recently completed her
masters in School Leadership at the Pan-African Christian University, has chosen to be a part of our development
efforts.

Reflections: Ann Waihura, Dignitas Project’s Instructional Coach

St.Michael’s Education Centre is in the valley surrounded by slum housing in
Mathare. Classes are small, crowded and have very basic facilities. I walk into
Valley View and see a nursery class of eighty pupils. Children can hardly move
around. The teacher I’ve come to observe can barely give individualized attention
to her students as there is no space to move around in the classroom. However, the
boys and girls respond in English to the teacher, write in their books while standing
up or on their laps and using whatever space there is. At Naioth, I walk through
small rooms and see many pupils. Teachers are well-organized and have prepared
charts using bags that once stored grain. Students show an eagerness to learn.
Mercy Care is clean but even its compound is crowded with many pupils in the
classes.

As I reflect on the four schools I have visited, I’m reminded of different environments, teachers, and facilities.
For me, there were some very marked differences. But looking at the pupils, I thought there were so many
similarities. Though they wore different colored uniforms, they are eager to learn, maybe unaware that their
fellow pupils in neighboring schools are better or worse-endowed with resources. Each pupil knows that theirs
is the best school can be. Songs are sang, questions are asked and responded to with similar innocence and
enthusiasm.

Students are able to read and write and learning is taking place despite other things that could be happening
around them. That is exciting. Last week, I visited a teacher who is working with 80 children squeezed into a
tiny classroom. Ultimately, there are not enough schools. The class of 80 should really be 3 classes of 20-25
children per class. You see the conditions and wish they could be better for the pupils – and hope that it can
keep improving so that the learning environment is more conducive. The teachers in the schools are also doing
the best they can with the resources they have and creating an environment where pupils can learn to read
and write. This is very encouraging for me because ultimately, the students are learning! -Ann Waihura
4
Issue 4 | September/October 2009

Fall University
Tour
This fall, Dignitas Project will
be visiting several
universities to discuss lessons
learned and challenges of
education development in
impoverished communities:
(continued from page 1)
within and outside Mathare. We have been in more than a 100 meetings with
students, government officials, teachers, school heads, Dignitas staff and
board and with people from other organizations working around the issue of
education. We have researched and thought about different issues affecting
Mathare. We have spent hours talking with parents and community leaders.
As I reflect upon this, my question is does it make a difference?

Massachusetts Institute of
Technology
Date: October 26, 2009
Student Group Event
Harvard University
Graduate School of Education
Date: October 27, 2009
Course: Leadership,
Entrepreneurship, and
Learning
Tufts University
Date: October 27, 2009
Course: Education for Peace
and Development
Columbia University
Teachers College
Date: October 29, 2009
Course: Education and
Development of Nations
In addition, Dignitas Project
will also be speaking in the
following places:
Pittsburgh, PA
November 1-2, 2009
Washington, DC
November 3, 2009
Oakland, California
Holy Names High School
Course: Women & Spirituality
November 9, 2009
Recently I was at the Ministry of Education and one of the officials told me
that they were still using our findings based on research that we conducted
in 2008 in Mathare. The research was based on capturing and expressing
community voices on their challenges and hopes, which many times is rarely
heard and factored in policy decisions. One year later, this work is still
being shared across organizations and used to influence decisions. This
means that different interventions outside Mathare and Dignitas have the
potential to be more context-relevant.
A few days ago, one of the school principals shared with me that for the first
time, they are receiving textbook support that is making a significant
difference in their schools. I also know of a teacher who used to have to
borrow books to teach his class from students from a different school
because his school did not have any books. Teachers are improving their
skills, which makes a difference in how they teach children following our
teacher development sessions.
So yes, the work has been worth it. And as we enter into the last term of the
year, I am excited about plans we have as we work more closely with the
teachers in their classrooms. We will continue to support schools with books
and other resources because we want to improve lives in Mathare.
-Steve Kariithi
Join our movement!
Your tax-deductible investment in our work will help
improve education for children in Kenya and support
our efforts to change lives.
Donate online: http://www.dignitasproject.org

Los Angeles Area, CA

November 7, 2009

For more information about

the engagements above or
general questions, please
contact us at
info@dignitasproject.org.
5
Issue 4 | September/October 2009
Inspired by Mathare’s Teachers to Press
Onwards: Lucy Wambua, Project Assistant
Working at Dignitas Project has really given me great insight to the Mathare
community, especially the five partner schools. It has been quite a good time spent
with the teachers in the program, Teachers For Mathare, and seeing the great impact
we have had through the Saturday sessions.

As I pay schools visit, I get a chance to see the community from many angles. I see
children playing in Mathare but they are of school-going age and not in school. I often
ask myself why there are more community-based schools and yet so many children not
in school. Does it mean parents don’t have the ability to pay?
~
There is this one teacher who stands out to me. She is a form two (high school)
dropout who is ready to learn and open to new ideas. She prepares the schemes of
work and lesson plans, ensures that her pupils are ready to learn and sets out to
achieve the set objectives of the day. She works hard so that pupils achieve the highest marks possible and tries to
provide the best teaching and learning materials during her lessons. She considers her most significant relationship
to be when she teaches boys and girls seated together. She is very ambitious in that she would like to complete
her studies and aspires to do more in her life.

Our teachers want to see the their pupils excelling in life. As I arrive at our partner schools, I’m always touched by
the teachers’ commitment and dedication to their work. It makes me recall this quote: “Teaching is a calling. If
you are a good teacher, you are vulnerable when you teach. You bring things that you care about and enjoy to
your class. You speak with honesty and openness. You are not afraid to admit when you are wrong. You laugh
and you cry. You are human. What is this calling to teach, if not the growing of humans? Educated, caring humans
full of self-worth, wonder, imagination, creativity and belief they can make a difference in this world."

Dignitas Project is non-profit, non-governmental organization dedicated to improving

education quality and expanding opportunity for children and families living in
impoverished communities. Our work is funded entirely by individuals and businesses that
have partnered with us to develop indigenous leaders who will
change lives and their nation’s future.

PO Box 19267 | Oakland, CA 94619 | info@dignitasproject.org | www.dignitasproject.org

Juja Road, opposite Kiboro Primary School | Nairobi, Kenya | 0735 792 515